Off the Editor’s Desk 1-17-24

A grocery store near you!

Is there a local grocery store near you? I was watching a national news clip on television recently about a story of a small town a couple of hours west of Chicago.

The story highlighted the community of Sheffield, Illinois, with a population of 821 that had only one grocery store. The current storeowner, whose father started the store many years ago, wants to retire, but without a new buyer, that meant that the store would have to close.

So, the community came together behind a local nurse by the name of Elizabeth Pratt and raised some $532,000 in donations to keep the grocery store operating and under new ownership.

As I watched that report, I realized how fortunate we are if there is a full service grocery store near your home. It even helps if there is a convenience store in your neighborhood. 

Back in the horse and buggy days, there was a grocery store every few miles. Most were mom and pop operations and they made a living until we were able to get into our car and drive to the next big town to get our staples.

When I was a kid, Glenwood City had six grocery stores, three of them also had “dry goods” and we probably were no different than most small towns that had a number of local grocery stores.

So, feel good, if you have a grocery store in your community. My advice to you, is use it or lose it.

I try to keep up on state and national news, but I completely missed the news that our former United States Senator and Milwaukee Bucks owner Herb Kohl passed away last month at the age of 88. The story that is told about his ownership of the Bucks is that he so loved that basketball team that he bought the team, just to keep it in Milwaukee.

Kohl served as our Senator for 24 years. He used his own money to run for that office. He did not want to be beholden to anyone one who donated to his campaign. He was the head of his family’s department stores that carries the family name. There are over 1,000 Kohl stores nationwide now.

What I remember about him is his foundation that honored local teaches and their schools with financial grants. The foundation also funded many state non-profits especially in the Milwaukee area.

One of his quotes that I like is; “My father once said, Money is like Manure, it’s not good unless you spread it around.”

Thanks for reading!     ~Carlton